NCJ Number
207357
Journal
Drug Court Review Volume: 41 Issue: 4 Dated: 2004 Pages: 35-48
Date Published
2004
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article guides drug-court practitioners in developing methodologically sound impact evaluations of drug courts.
Abstract
An impact evaluation determines whether drug court clients undergo positive changes, notably the reduction or elimination of repeat offenses and substance-abuse relapse, as a result of their participation in the drug court's regimen. Such an evaluation usually compares outcomes for drug-court clients with outcomes for similar offenders who are eligible for but do not participate in a drug court program. There are three critical components of a methodologically sound impact evaluation. First, the experiences of drug-court clients must be compared with those of nonclients whose characteristics and histories are similar to the drug-court clients. Second, various types of data must be collected and analyzed at several points in time for both drug-court clients and the comparison group, with attention to post-program offenses and substance abuse. Third, the design and execution of the impact evaluation should be supervised by a qualified evaluator, social science analyst, or statistician. 5 references